In the past few years, a new type of polyester compound has become commercially available from Eastman Chemical Company of Kingsport, Tenn. bearing the Tritan™ brand. A very large number of patent applications have been filed and published concerning this impressive technology.
Among the many applications published thus far, several have attempted to address the need for compounds containing Tritan™ brand polyester resins to have stability at high temperatures or a high glass transition temperature or other indications that the new polyester resin itself needs compounding assistance to make the polyester compound more tolerant of high operational temperatures. Three examples of such patent publications are US2008/0293882 (Germroth et al.); US2009/0093573 (Germroth et al.); and US 2009/0093574 (Crawford et al.)
To be useful in the health care industry, thermoplastic articles need to be durable enough to withstand repeated events of steam sterilization in a hydroclave.